I think the primary meaning of Fable is "a story with a moral." Sure, it can also mean a falsehood. But there are tons of more traditional names out there that don't mean very nice things. I knew a girl in high school named Trista, and thought it was a pretty name. I was surprised to learn that it means "woman of sorrow."

My grandfather's name was Cecil, which means "blind." My son's name is Jakob. Along with the gazillion other Jacobs/Jakobs in the USA, his name basically means "tyrant." Not exactly a sweet connotation.

I like Fable. Zeplin is okay but I don't really dig that particular spelling.

Someone mentioned that unusual names are okay if they aren't ridiculous. I agree. I have an unusual AND ridiculous first name, and it was pure hell growing up. I legally changed my name when I was 15. I tend to think that "Bluebird" falls into the unusual and ridiculous category. My son was in a martial arts class a few years back with a boy named Thriller. I thought to myself that that poor kid certainly needs to take a self-defense class.

I've been on two name boards now, (full of very traditional people), and they say my name choices will hurt my child and cause lots of teasing in school, etc. Though I'm tough-skinned enough to not be hurt by this, it does make me wonder if I should rethink my names (especially my girl name)

This thread is quite long, but I wanted to respond to the OP. I grew up totally mainstream (in the Valley, as in Valley Girl) with the name Jordana. It's unusual, and pretty darn annoying - no one can spell it right if they hear it, and no one can pronounce it right if it's spelled out for them. I really don't like introducing myself because I get the same "huh, what, can you repeat that (several times) and then people still get it wrong.

That being said, I was never teased for having an unusual name. I don't like my name and would love to throttle my mother for giving me such a difficult name to deal with, but it didn't hurt me at all, just annoyed me. HTH!

Jordana, mama to almost 8 year old Evan, 3 year old Atticus, and 1 year old Tabitha - my gifts from heaven

I named my daughter Aoibheann. Fable doesn't seem very far out there to me! At least it is easy to pronounce.

I love Aoibheann (it's pronounced like Eav een or Ee ven, yes?). It is a beautiful name.

I have a Ciarán. Well, I wanted a Ciarán. I compromised with Dh and his name is spelled Kieran. His argument is that we'd spend too much time spelling it for people and no one would know how to pronounce it. Well, I still spend plenty of time spelling and pronouncing it for people.

A good friend of mine named her daughter Caoimhe (Kee vuh). We joke that Kieran and she were made for one another :.

We have decided on using Fable, but not Zeplin. Right now our top boy choice is Malcolm (With Wynn as the backup, which I see as totally masculine and male).

I love Fable and I love the meaning. The meaning is not "lie". I have always loved fables. I've always felt they were like stories passed down from our elders to teach a lesson or moral. This oral tradition is very important in many cultures, including my own. I have never, not once, read or listened to a fable from my grandmother and thought that it was a lie, instead it was a great way to get across a moral in a more loving way then to just be told how to act. They are a loving, fun, and gentle way to teach someone how they should act, while still allowing them the freedom to discover the moral for themselves and be able to think about it and learn from it.

I think the primary meaning of Fable is "a story with a moral." Sure, it can also mean a falsehood. But there are tons of more traditional names out there that don't mean very nice things. I knew a girl in high school named Trista, and thought it was a pretty name. I was surprised to learn that it means "woman of sorrow."

The difference between "Trista" and "Fable" is that Trista is used, in English at least, only as a name. You can look up the original etymological meaning perhaps and find it means sorrow (though other meanings have been suggested), but you would have to seek out the meaning. Fable is a word commonly used in English still and therefore all of its meanings are still accessible in regular conversation and in a dictionary.

Merriam-Webster online dictionary definition:

Main Entry:
1fa·ble Listen to the pronunciation of 1fable
Pronunciation:
\ˈfā-bəl\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin fabula conversation, story, play, from fari to speak — more at ban
Date:
14th century

: a fictitious narrative or statement: as a: a legendary story of supernatural happenings b: a narration intended to enforce a useful truth ; especially : one in which animals speak and act like human beings c: falsehood, lie

I still say try it out at least before you use it, see what it would be like to live with it. I don't know if it would be really difficult or not, perhaps it wouldn't be. I think you have to give it a run in real life to see if what you get back when you say it. I don't think its horrible, as I said, its pretty and at least if she hates it she has Faye to use as a nickname but personally I'd use it as a middle name, I think it makes a really awesome middle name. Too often middle names are just filler.

Malcolm is just gorgeous, such a beautiful and underused boy name. Good luck to you whatever you decide!

My ds is named Kanoa- I don't know that it's that out there, but definitely unheard of in the areas we live in (Canada and France). No one has ever made a comment- other than 'what a beautiful name' or 'what an original name'. Now, this may not reflect what they actually think, but they have always been polite about it.
Also, ds is in Kindy and has not yet had any children make fun of his name. However, we mainly live in Toronto and there are many different nationalities and therefore names. Also, on many occasions, ds has been called 'she'- but this is not only due to the name; he has fairly delicate features and long hair... he usually gets the 'she' treatment even before his name has been mentionned. Besides, I don't think that would be an issue with the names you have chosen. The only thing that I, as a teacher, find a little bit of difficulty with is names that are not easy to pronounce- I always feel bad having to ask children how their name is pronounced, and feel terrible when I've mispronounced.
FWIW, I like the names you have chosen... the best test is the 'tease test': how could someone make fun of my child's name? what does it rhyme with, or how can it be slightly altered to humiliate? unfortunately, some kids tend to look for that kind of thing to hurt each other.

I think Mabel is just as unique and a more legitimate name. Its certainly not common these days.

XOXO
B

I have a Mabel but spelled Mable (DH's preference). :

OP I just thought of something- if you name your daughter Fable whenever you use "table" in the same sentence you are going to feel like you are in a nursery rhyme Every day we say something to Mable about the table "Mable, go sit at the table please" and she just thinks it's the funniest thing ever (she is 3). So you have those giggles to look forward to!

Maggie, blissfully married mama of 5 little ladies on my own little path.

some kids will just FIND something to make fun of another kid for. whether it be their name, size, glasses, no glasses, braces, whatever. so i say name your child whatever you want. it's not going to doom them for a life of terror.

Yah this. My brother named Adam got made fun for his name. My maiden name was Candice Campbell. Pretty name, yes? I was made fun of as well.

hi, saw this on new posts...dont have time to read the whole thing, but it think Fable is beyond lovely. i think fable tara bluebird is perfect. that lets you use at least one family name, it lets you use bluebird which is special to you, and your daughter could always use Tara later on if she thought Fable was too "out there", though i dont think it is

for a boy, i dont LOVE zeplin, but if you chose Zeplin Alexander Clint, he could always choose to go by "Zac"

I think that when people suggest, "imagine it on a business card", it's not so much to suggest that unusual names aren't professional (b/c who cares, really?!), but that a name should carry a certain amount of dignity.

Sunflowermoonbeam (an Ashley) pointed out many posts ago, that she feels marginalized by her name at times because it ends with a "y" sound, which can come across as inherently nickname-y or juvenile-- like Jimmy, Sammy, Tommy, etc. Most of those would be a derivative of a traditional, strong name like James, Samuel, Thomas, but there was a trend for quite a while in the 80's to give girls "ey" or "i" names. I went to school with an "Ashli", a "Staci", and a "Candi" (not short for Candace or anything-- that was the birth certificate name) and while they make great names for preschoolers cheerleaders, or exotic dancers, it's hard to bring them into adulthood.

"Fable", while a bit "out there" as a name, to me at least sounds dignified, as OK for an adult as for a child. Zeplin, to me, lacks that dignity.

Just my .02, and it's worth about that much.

Mara, mama to two boys born 05/2009 and 04/2011, after four miscarriages.

There are so many things that kids are teased about. I think the names you have posted are very nice. It's your child and as long as you feel that your child would like the name and that you can see him living with the name then that's all that matters. I struggle with that daily, now that I'm trying to come up with a name. I hate having the job of naming another person. I wish I could wait and ask her when she is a few years older and let her choose her own.

I think that when people suggest, "imagine it on a business card", it's not so much to suggest that unusual names aren't professional (b/c who cares, really?!), but that a name should carry a certain amount of dignity.

Sunflowermoonbeam (an Ashley) pointed out many posts ago, that she feels marginalized by her name at times because it ends with a "y" sound, which can come across as inherently nickname-y or juvenile-- like Jimmy, Sammy, Tommy, etc. Most of those would be a derivative of a traditional, strong name like James, Samuel, Thomas, but there was a trend for quite a while in the 80's to give girls "ey" or "i" names. I went to school with an "Ashli", a "Staci", and a "Candi" (not short for Candace or anything-- that was the birth certificate name) and while they make great names for preschoolers cheerleaders, or exotic dancers, it's hard to bring them into adulthood.

"Fable", while a bit "out there" as a name, to me at least sounds dignified, as OK for an adult as for a child. Zeplin, to me, lacks that dignity.

Just my .02, and it's worth about that much.

:

Trying to live a simple life in a messy house in a complicated world with : DH, DD (b. 07/07), DS (b. 02/09), and DD (b. 10/10)

I think people worry too much. If kids are in school, they are going to get teased about something. If it's not their name, it's something else. I got it for my name (Autumn-not even that "out there"), my hair, my skin color, being smart, etc. etc.
I think your names are beautiful and you should name your children what you want, and not base it on what others think.
Obviously, by my kid's name, I took my own advice

Mama to a wild thing (10/08) and a new thing (8/5/10) and wife to the love of myTypos+weird words=typing on my iPhone

Fable is ok but if you are going to use it I wouldn't pair it up with bluebird. Zeplin is fine too.

I think they are kinda different but not completely off the wall. But then my DD Lilyka had an Emerald and Binta in her class as well as a host of other names I have never heard. Uncommon is pretty common these days. So long as they have a more usual middle name that they can change it to and you wan't hold it against them if they do.

The truest answer to violence is love. The truest answer to death is life. The only prevention for violence is for the heart to have no violence within it. We cannot prevent evil through any system devised by mankind. But we can grapple with evil and defeat it, but only with love—real love.

I have an ususual name (Abra) and I wouldn't change it, period. Yes, I was teased, but then pretty much any name can be made fun of. I have gone on to name DS1 Cyan (sy-en) and our new baby will be Olivine. I would never want my kid to have the same name as everyone else. I think Fable is a good name, you should used it!

Abra, Married to George, Mother to DS 12/03 & DD1 08/09 & DD2 12/11 + Someone New in May 2015! After years of planning, we are finally living our dream in South America!!

I think Fable is OK. Not a name I like all that well, but as you said it's similar to more traditional names, and if she turns out to want a traditional name she can go by Faye. President Fable Lastname? No. President Faye Lastname? Sure. She might be teased based on the meaning of Fable, but many names are mocked, so if you love it...

Zeplin, however, would be an issue to me. It sounds cool, but not like a name. More like a band, or a kid named by parents who were way too into 70s rock. Or aviation. Plus there's no traditional nickname if he wants it. If you love it, maybe use it in the middle? Alexander Zeplin? Malcolm Zeplin? Or how about Xander? Can be said Zan-der, is a form of Alexander, and has a cool z sound like Zeplin.

I am sooooo immensely glad that I live in SF Bay Area where "traditional" names can be Chinese, Spanish or Indian or any other heritage, and where "unusual" names are more common than one would expect...

...but that's what happens when you live in a melting pot of cultural diversity and open-mindedness! I hope one day the rest of America will catch up.

As for OP's name choices, I love both Fable and Zeplin (but not that particular spelling).

If it's not your name, kids find some other reason to tease you. Having a normal name is no protection and having a weird name is no guarantee for teasing either. Anyway it's a moot point mostly if you're homeschooling.